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Riot Watch 2012 : Kings look to sweep Canucks in Game 4

The Los Angeles Kings ( and Dustin Brown ) look to put the finishing touches on their first round, and doing it in epic 8th seed style.

Assuming Los Angeles does sweep the President’s Trophy winners by winning in Game 4, it’ll be the first sweep in franchise history, and yet another disappointing finish to the Vancouver season.

The casual fan may look at the 0-3 hole, and spout the normal cliche sayings, about taking it one game at a time, about living in the moment, about taking care of business.

Yes, there will be experience on the ice Wednesday night, even the kind that knows how to come back from a 0-3 hole. Why is that so rare you ask? Only three NHL teams have overcome 0-3 deficits to win a best-of-seven playoff series, and there’s 2 guys that know just how to do that for the Canucks.

Sadly, they are wearing the wrong colors as it’s Kings’ forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, who accomplished the feat as Flyers just two years ago.

Why yes I am basking in the warm afterglow of Vancouver’s epic meltdown, because after leading the NHL yet again for the majority the season, the Canucks have self imploded after just 3 playoff games.

Why do I hate the Canucks? Why doesn’t everyone is the better question. Being perceived as a bunch of arrogant divers doesn’t help their image. But the way the team quits or folds like oragami while being portrayed as elite or acting as though they are elite is what rubs the casual fan the wrong way.

Which makes it all the more delicious that the Kings have completely untracked the Canucks, and while the meltdown isn’t as complete as say… the meltdown against the Blackhawks two years ago, it’s still plenty bad.

Dustin Byflugien couldn’t be prouder… unless of course his name was Dustin Brown, captain of the Kings who has scored 4 goals in the series… the same number of goals scored by the entire Canuck team so far.

He’s also been throwing his body around a little… care to ask Henrik Sedin?

The Canucks are hoping that superstar Daniel Sedin will be healthy enough to play, but this team looked beat in Game 2. If they hope to stave off elimination, the big question will be… who is Alain Vigneault going to turn to in net?

While common sense may dictate that Schneider get the nod again in net, as he did in Game 3, my vote is for Roberto Luongo.

And why not? in this tale of regular season success gone wrong, who else would make the perfect poster boy for President’s Cup failure?

Maybe the better question is, will Vancouver riot after being swept out of the playoffs? Will Vancouverites have the common sense to not trash their own city and pride after their beloved Canucks are swept?

Common sense says no….. they will not be doing that again… because we all believed them last year right? 😉

I was going to say something witty and clever here, but words somehow escape me